


Serendipitous

by OverOnTheBench



Category: Hot Rod (2007)
Genre: Childhood Friends, Dave is a huge softie, Estrangement, F/M, Family Issues, Flashbacks, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Light Angst, Mutual Pining, Post-Canon, Reunions, Slow Burn, less angsty after first chapter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-12
Updated: 2019-11-11
Packaged: 2021-01-29 01:37:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21402037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OverOnTheBench/pseuds/OverOnTheBench
Summary: Edith Kennedy made every effort she could to avoid returning to her hometown of Parkdale, Washington, but is hoping her return will be nothing but temporary. When Edith reunites with Dave McLean, her estranged best friend from high school, she discovers that the connection they once had is still strong. She begins to wonder if her unwanted return to Parkdale will allow her and Dave to rectify mistakes they made in the past.
Relationships: Bill Hader/Original Female Character(s), Dave McLean/Original Character
Comments: 5
Kudos: 27





	Serendipitous

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Thank you to everyone who encouraged me to post this. I felt sort of silly writing this at first, but it's taken on a life of its own and I'm really enjoying it. 
> 
> Most of this story takes place a couple months after the final scene of Hot Rod, with occasional flashbacks to the crew's high school days (Chapter One is mostly flashback). While I'll mostly be focusing on Dave and Edith's storyline, everyone from the movie will be making appearances. Especially Kevin. I adore Kevin.
> 
> Please feel free to leave feedback in the comments, or on Twitter or CuriousCat!!

_ October, 2007 _

_ * _

“Are you really going to sit here all night and not talk to anyone?”

Edith blinked, realized she’d been staring into her cup for a while, and looked up the girl speaking to her. Melissa, Alyssa...no, no, her name was Katie. That was right, Katie Spellman, Edith’s high school classmate. In all fairness, she could have been any one of the hordes of Alyssas that Edith had graduated from Parkdale High with four years ago. It wasn’t that they all looked the same, or even dressed the same; it was the stare. Katie Spellman had a stare that gave Edith flashbacks to windowless hallways and perpetual sweaty odors. That morning she’d walked up to Edith in the diabetic supplies aisle of the local Walgreens and said “Oh, you really are back in town, huh? Come to my party tonight.” Edith had no idea what had compelled her to say “yes”, but here she was, sitting at a cramped Halloween party as old classmates jostled and stumbled behind her, dressed like the Corpse Bride.

At least she was out of the house, she rationalized to herself. At least, for the first time since returning to Washington, she got to be drunk.

“I might do that,” she finally responded to Katie, bringing her drink to her mouth again. “We’ll see what happens. Thanks for the invite.”

Katie scoffed, and turned away to find the man she’d been aggressively flirting with since Edith arrived. When Edith wasn’t lost in tipsy space with her blue fingernails drumming against a counter sticky with vodka, she scanned the crowd. In reality, it was only about 50 people, both inside and out in the backyard, but the vaguely familiar faces kept turning over, and every minute or two she’d see a classmate and recall a piece of their story. For those too far back in her mind to remember, she made things up. The guy in the corner with the shockingly blond hair and the cowboy costume was named Ben, but that was all Edith knew. Was it possible that his father was a CIA agent? Perhaps. She didn’t care enough to find out.

The nostalgia and amusement of people-watching was fading fast, and pouring herself another helping of the punch (which she’d heard someone nearby refer to as “spooky juice”) did nothing to help. She was was planning to sneak out the side door and walk the few blocks home, when she suddenly felt a bump from behind as she passed the snack table. Her drink sloshed, and a few drops of purple punch landed on her arms, creating rivulets in her greyish-blue body paint.

“Shit, I'm sorry- holy Toledo,” proclaimed the voice of the offender. Edith turned, and was confronted by someone in a blue Power Ranger costume towering over her. He was fumbling with a pumpkin-shaped cookie.

“Sorry,” he spoke again from under the mask, “you just look real scary, Miss Zombie Bride.”

“Oh, thank you.”

“I mean it in a good way, I promise,” the guy said, pulling off the mask and revealing his face. The air left Edith’s lungs when she immediately recognized him, his face unchanged by the four years since they'd seen each other. He squinted at her, then took a reflexive step backward and breathed “Wait... Edie?”

“Hi, Dave,” she said softly. 

Dave stammered, searching for his words. He ran a hand through his long hair - also unchanged since high school. Part of Edith wondered if time had really passed at all, and giddy panic rose in her throat. “Well, Jesus, I mean…wow, it's been a long time.”

“I guess so.”

“I sorta thought you'd never come back. Like you said.” 

Edith swallowed and looked away. “Yeah, I thought so too.”

“Especially when you didn't show up for Rod’s stepdad.”

“I called into the fundraiser. I hear Frank’s a lot better.”

Dave nodded, shifting back and forth on his feet. She noticed he'd grown a few inches. “Did you graduate college?”

“Barely,” she joked. “But yeah. I guess it's been five months now...gonna have to start paying those loans soon.”

There was a pause. Edith now found herself searching for words before blurting out “I'm sorry. That's not what I want to talk to you about. No one gives a shit about loans. I just don't know what I want to say to you, or how to say it.”

Dave gave Edith the same kind, puzzled look that she remembered him being so good at.

  
  


__________________________________

_ August, 2003 _

_ * _

“It’s really weird that you’re just gonna be gone,” Dave remarked over the dying whine of his drill. Edith watched from her seat on the tool bench, swinging her legs, as he went over to the buzzing, grimy fridge to take two of his dad’s beers. He tried to get the cap off one bottle by bashing it against an engine block, only to break the neck of the bottle. “Aw, shitbricks.”

“Nice one,” Edith deadpanned, hopping off the bench to assist him. She popped the other cap off with her car key, and took a swig while Dave kicked the glass shards under a shelving unit. “Yeah, I don’t like thinking about it.”

“Don’t you kinda have to? You leave in like two days.”

“I mean, yeah. Sure.” Edith shifted on her feet, not conscious of the direction of her thoughts or words. “But, like, I’m still here. Right? So we can pretend it’s not happening, at least until the party tomorrow.”

She smiled, but Dave didn’t return it. Given how rare it was for him to not be smiling, even when he didn’t feel like it, Edith was uneasy. A flash in her stomach was sharp and hot, close to unbearable.

“I don’t wanna be a total bummer, Edie,” he said, “but we’ve kinda been pretending that for the whole summer. I mean, we just go screw around in Rod’s yard or over by the ice cream stand, like any other year. You keep acting like we’re all heading back to school in September, except we’re not. You’re leaving, for good. And I don’t get why, ‘cause you’ve avoided it since April. I just wanna address what’s happening, for once-”

Dave caught himself on the edge of his last word, as he realized how loud his voice had become. Her heart pounding, Edith thought he shrunk an inch or two.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered, taking off his visor and messing with his hair. Edith had never heard him yell - not in anger, at least, and certainly not at her. She knew Dave didn’t mean to be hurtful, but his forceful words stung. In the back of her mind, she knew the worst part of it was facing the reality of her own mistakes. Dave was agreeable and sweet above all, but he was perceptive, too. Sometimes she wondered if anyone else realized that about him. He was bringing her back to earth.

“UCLA is an amazing opportunity,” she finally said. The weakness of her point was reflected back to her in Dave’s expression.

“There’s opportunities closer to home,” he remarked. “You used to be excited about the one school in Seattle...I’m not saying I’m not happy for you, I really am. I just don’t know what you’re running from.”

“Nothing,” she said. “Literally, I’m running from nothing. There’s nothing for me here. Dad’s long gone, I can’t stay with Nana. I just need to move forward.”

“You have  _ us _ here. You have  _ me _ .”

Edith felt tears stinging her eyes, and she fought them back with controlled breaths.

“I know,” she said. “I want to come back and visit you as often as I can. Back in April, I was deciding where to go, and then you and that girl Brianna were…but it isn’t your fault. I just didn’t see...It was stupid. I don’t know.”

Though she fumbled with her words, she did know. Dave knew that she knew, too. The last thing she wanted was for him to blame himself, but it seemed wrong to leave and never acknowledge the truth. What the two of them had, compared to Rod, Rico and Kevin, was just different. It always had been.

It was past dusk now. Edith wasn’t even facing the open garage door, but the augmented darkness pressed against her back. She’d told Nana she’d be home around 9:30. Time between her and Dave had never been a worry. There was an innate assumption of tomorrow, until that exact moment. They had no time left.

“I’m glad you came by,” Dave said, his smile returning, but not the same.

“I am too. I’ll see you at the party, right?”

“Duh. Rico and I found some old fireworks in his uncle’s garage. Like thirty of ‘em. I hope they’re still good. Do you know if fireworks expire?”

“I figured you’d know.”

“I’m not really a pyrotechnics guy.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fun either way,” Edith said with a smile, and Dave beamed back at her. She opened her arms and he stepped into her embrace, and she squeezed tight, melting when he did the same. They'd never been big on hugs, but the moment warranted the contact she yearned for, however brief.

Dave let go and separated from her first. The loss of one or two more seconds made her stomach drop, as if she’d lost her footing, but she said “See ya later” and turned away, heading down the gravel drive. Her rusting sedan was parked in front of his house, under a flickering streetlight. Fireflies teased at the perimeter of the orange glow’s reach.

“Edie, wait.”

Rapid footsteps crunched down the drive, and she turned to see Dave following her down to her car. The stomach drop returned, but for a different reason.

“I know this is kinda weird,” he said before she could question him, “and I’m sorry. But could I kiss you?”

Edith’s mind went blank, and Dave stammered. Something in her expression made him falter.

“I know, I know,” he continued on, his words so fast they piled on top of each other and sounded reckless. “I was just thinking about it, and I got bummed out. But then I realized, just one time would be enough. Then I won’t spend the rest of my life wondering how it feels.”

Heart swooping into a crescendo, beating all the way into her extremities, Edith said “okay.”

In one move, Dave came in close, arm going around her waist. His free hand rested on the back of her neck, and he leaned down to kiss her. At once, Edith could tell he really had been thinking about this, maybe for as long as she had. She embraced him too, thoughts bursting into her head, like where had he learned how to kiss this well and how he was stronger and warmer than she'd imagined and  _ fuck how could I ever leave _ -

Dave pulled away. His hands dropped, and Edith had to stop herself from reaching into empty space that had opened and grown between them in a matter of seconds. The words “just one time” echoed back to her, and Dave slowly backed up onto the driveway, his expression unreadable.

Then, Edith left.


End file.
